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Discrimination against the Roma:

Recent media accounts & human
rights reports: 2007 & 2008

Roma are also known as Gypsies, Rom, Rroma, Romani, etc.

Human rights reports on the Roma:

2007-JAN: Iraq: The Roma are among the minorities suffering extreme oppression
in Iraq, mainly due to the civil war between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims that was
triggered by the U.S. invasion. 1

2007-APR-05: The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the
U.S. State Department issued a report for 2006 stating:

Bosnia:

"Working with the Bosnian Roma Council, the United States ...
funded a social research project to collect information on the
social, economic, health, and education conditions of Romani
citizens that would be used to help the government and NGOs modify
regulations affecting Roma and improve their socio-economic status."

Moldova:

"Several religious groups continued to have problems obtaining official registration. Societal violence and
discrimination against women, children, and Roma persisted."

Kosovo:

"During the year the United States provided advocacy and funding for the UN
mission's efforts to relocate hundreds of displaced Roma in northern Kosovo away
from lead-contaminated camps and provide treatment for children suffering from
lead poisoning." 2

"Reports of racially motivated incidents against foreigners and
person of color, perpetrated by groups with a history of targeting
persons of Roma, African or Asian descent, have occurred in the Slovak
Republic. In addition to incidents of assault, persons of Roma,
African, or Asian heritage may be subject to various types of
harassment, such as verbal abuse." 3

2007-MAR-27: Belarus etc.: The International Helsinki Federation in its 2006 report on "Human Rights in
the OSCE region" 4 stated:

"Roma Minority: there have been reports
that Roma rights issues are similar in profile to those elsewhere in
Central and Eastern Europe: that is, that Roma face racial
discrimination and other exclusionary forces. According local Roma
activists, while the human rights situation in Belarus is generally very
poor, Roma are in an especially vulnerable situation. In particular,
Roma reportedly fall victim to police violence; they have limited access
to education; many Roma lack the personal documents they need to access
fundamental rights, including identity cards, residence permits, etc.;
large numbers of Roma live in un-integrated settlements in substandard
conditions, often without basic infrastructure and/or utilities; and the
government has failed to date to undertake relevant measures to improve
the situation."

"There have been reports that Roma living in the areas affected by the
Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986 may have been
disproportionately excluded from preventive and/or ameliorative medical
measures, such as regular doses of iodine, required for the prevention of thyroid cancer. Roma in Belarus frequently do not
challenge discriminatory treatment and human rights violations at the
relevant institutions because they consider authorities undemocratic
and/or unreceptive too such complaints, as well as for reasons related
to their historic exclusion. In addition to the issues raised above, a
significant number of Roma have not yet exchanged their old
identification documents for new documents, and may have missed the
deadline in 2004 for the exchange of such documents. Such persons are at
risk to be deprived from the right to vote and other goods and
services."

"Hate speech against Roma takes place in the media, portraying Roma as
thieves and criminals, thereby provoking high levels of intolerance and
perceptions of Roma as an outcast group. Discriminatory treatment of
Roma by local authorities deepens the inequality of Roma in their access
to fundamental rights." 5

2007-OCT-25: Amnesty International issues report on Roma discrimination:
Their report documents many failures of governments in Europe to treat Roma as
full sentences. In only one area -- that of active discrimination and police
violence -- they reported human rights violations in:

Bulgaria about the torture and death of a Romani man in police
custody.

Croatia about the failure of authorities to investigate a severe
beating of a Romani man.

Czech Republic about many allegations of police violence and
failure to investigate crimes against Roma.

Greece about the killing of a Romani man, and the shooting in the
head of another Romani man.

Macedonia about the death of a 17-year-old Romani boy who
apparently died of drowning while running from police. Also, two Romani men
were beaten outside a police station and then dragged into the station for
more beating.

Romania about a report by the European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)that reported inadequate
enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws, and racist articles in the
media. There was also a report of an apparent police riot. President Traian
Basescu reportedly called a journalist a "dirty gypsy", but apologized later
for causing the journalist "an undeserved moral damage."

Slovakia about refusal of service by a restaurant, the forced
sterilization of three Romani women between 1999 and 2002. The UN
Committee of the Rights of the Child expressed its concern about
discrimination and segregation experienced by Roma, and others, in
education, health care and housing. They also were concerned about the continuing incidents
of excessive use of force by police.

Their report also documented human rights abuses in housing, employment,
health services, education, as well as civil, political, economic and social
rights. 6

2008-JUL-10: Italy: European Parliament rebukes
Italy: The Italian government is entering
Roma ghettos and fingerprinting adults and children. The data is filed
according to religion, Their stated goal is to cut crime, control the use of
children used for begging and to help identify illegal immigrants. By a vote of 336 to 220, the European Parliament passed
a resolution criticizing Italy for its actions. It asked Italy "to
refrain from collecting the fingerprints from Roma, including minors, as
this would clearly constitute an act of discrimination based on race and
ethnic origin." Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said the
move by Parliament was "politically motivated and based on prejudices" against
his country. The fingerprinting has also been criticized by Unicef. 7

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.